* / ❄ ice queen .

where: illicit birthday party

"you maaaade it," charlie was already slurring her words even though she'd only been there for fifteen minutes- she'd needed a healthy pregame to step into the abandoned house with her usual confidence. "can you be honest? does my hair look fucked up from the back? i can't get a good view," she whined as she squinted into the mirror behind them, slowly turning like a seasick music box ballerina while trying to get a glimpse of the back of her head.

Of course Charlie was surprised that Pippa made it to the event. Everyone here knew this wasn't her scene. Not parties that she barely liked anyone at when one of the party go-ers was not someone that she was particularly friendly with on any given day. Still, she had incentive to go. Of course she was here. Charlie didn't know that though. "It's a little..." Pippa sighed. "Come on, let's find a bathroom. I've got a comb in my bag." Pippa hooked her arm in Charlie's and going in the direction of the bathroom. "Are you okay? Did you get texts too?"

❝            pip pip! ❞ the usual nickname yelled across the room as soon as gia laid eyes on pippa. blame her slightly tipsy state and general love for attention. it wasn't long before she was crossing the floor and holding her hand out for pippa to grab. ❝ you gotta come dance with me. ❞ she was probably pushing her luck, but there was no way she wouldn't at least try. ❝ have you had a drink yet? you should probably have one before we dance. makes it easier. you wouldn't think so, but it does. ❞

Pippa really wasn't sure why she was at this party because she actually hated these sorts of parties. She'd always felt like she ought to be classier than a party like this, thrown by a bunch of people who wanted to act like fools just to act like fools. She personally didn't know who she was supposed to trust at this one either. Still, Pippa couldn't help feeling a little more comfortable that out of everyone it was Gia that approached her. "I'll dance with you, but I don't want to drink." Actually, no, Pippa decided the only reason she was here was because of G. She didn't know what she was supposed to do. "Are you sure you don't want some air first? I could use some air. There's a lot of people in here and I'm feeling overwhelmed." Anyone who knew Pippa at least a little would know that she was clearly struggling.

who: @icypippa​ when & where: joint bday party, somewhere around midnight 

     their last interaction didn’t exactly go the way it did in link’s head — calculated and giving her what she wants to hear didn’t seem to work very well on pippa. but he was hoping that the second attempt wouldn’t bomb as much as the first one. “ got you a drink. ” he starts, sliding up next to her with two cups in his hand. “ — was hoping that you’d accept having one with me… since it’s my birthday and all. ” they add that last part with a small and playful grin.

Pippa was not one of those people that forgave people easily or forgot when someone wronged her. Although it hadn't happened that often, when it did, Pippa iced the other person out. She wanted there to be some kind of consequence for treating her poorly, even if it meant she suffered along the way as well. "My mother told me not to take drinks from strange men," she replies without hesitation. She has a drink in her hand already as it was. "I already have a drink. I don't think you're here to schmooze, so what do you want Link? What's the price to leave me alone this evening?"

"I don't like doing things I'm not very good at." Pippa knew that she would be a good doctor. That wasn't much of a brag as much as it was something that she knew she would like. Research and clinical topics were easier for her. Art was subjective and while Pippa liked it, she knew that her chosen career was probably best for her future. She wouldn't ever be passionate about it. Especially if she felt like she was forced into doing it. She let out a laugh at the therapist comment. Of course Pippa knew she should be in therapy. Unlike most people, her parents weren't against her going to a therapist (at least as long as she wasn't caught coming out of the offices). They wanted her to be alright. The problem was that Pippa always seemed to be alright. Like nothing was ever wrong with her because nothing ever was wrong with her. "I don't need therapy." She did. That was obviously a lie. "It doesn't matter where I go, people pay attention to me. I don't have the luxury of blending in like some people do."

No one was going to convince Pippa that the way she was could change and her life would still be okay. She refused to be friendly to people and she refused to stop being so uptight. "Any person that specializes in something still has to learn general knowledge." Of course it didn't matter because those people who did doctors without boarders still needed specialists sometimes as well. "It's the philanthropy aspect I like best." No one would understand. The general American public was annoying. "I don't know. Whatever I end up liking the best. I'm still a sophomore. I barely have a plan through the end of next year, let alone a five year plan." Pippa could hate being a doctor so much that she changed plans before going to medical school. "But it's not something I like to think about when I need to focus on my grades here first."

at the mention of law enforcement, she groans. no doubt, with an actual death in the mix, brown, choi and murray would bring another set of fbi people with them. it was never-ending. “oh, i can’t wait. this time, i’m letting my lawyers speak for me. i heard some horror stories about other people’s interviews, so better not to chance it, no? how was your last one?”

Pretending that she liked someone when she didn't was not Pippa's strongest suit. As much as she pretended to be happy about a lot of other aspects of her life, when it came to other people, she mostly told it straight. It was easy to talk to some people as if they were the worst person she'd ever met, rather than trying to pretend that they were okay to their face and talking shit behind their back. Pippa didn't really know how she was supposed to be feeling about this conversation when their breaks had probably been equally as bad. Pippa shrugged at Heni's words, wishing her parents had cared enough to come make sure she was okay. Of course they knew what was happening at the school. "Yeah, well." It meant she'd been alone dealing with her family.

No doubt this semester was going to be filled with the same dread that last semester was filled with. Pippa was no fan of law enforcement. It made her feel uneasy that cops would be around campus again. Not to mention, she wasn't sure what she wanted to tell them. "Well, yes, I'm going to do the same thing." They might not have a choice in the matter, but she didn't dare say that. "It was fine." She wasn't going to show her hand.

Honestly, Pippa had a strained relationship with most people, including her own family. Sometimes she wished her parents had decided to have a child because Pippa really hated being the only one her parents focused on. She wished that wasn't her fate to be the only person they forced to do their own bidding. She knew it was bitter to feel that way. Pippa didn't care. Sloane was the only one that actually acknowledged they way they both felt. Her cousin was the only one knew just how much Pippa resented her parents for forcing her to be like Greer growing up. "I wanted to be alone... you know, after all the..." California had really been the only way for her to reset after their disastrous break. Everyone felt like her though and she knew she wasn't special for it. "What did you fight about? If you want to talk about it obviously." Pippa hated that she wanted to talk to Harding about what she overheard at the chalet, but she wanted to keep Sloane out of it. Transferring would have been a nightmare in the middle of a semester and would have required that she pick up her phone when her mother called. Pippa didn't want to do that. "Too much effort to transfer," she shrugged, as if that answered the question. "No, thanks," Pippa said, as if she did usually take her cousin up on the offer. "Oh, yeah, sure." Her own phone was probably dead stuffed down in her bag, but Pippa never went anywhere without her wallet. She fished it out of her bag and handed over one of her credit cards. "Mom doesn't check that one often, we could get out of here and have fun." She didn't have any more classes left in the day.

Pippa did not need someone to be worried about her when it seemed like half the worry was fake. She personally hated when people tried to act like they cared about her and wanted to make sure she was doing well when clearly there was no reason for her to be okay in the first place. Acting like her standards were problematic was stupid because she was not going to change her ways. She doubted that Reina's concern was genuine because no one's ever was these days. Everyone was so concerned for her when really all they cared about were themselves. She wasn't stupid enough to fall for any of this. "And? I have a goal and I'm going to achieve it. My name doesn't matter." She didn't want to be a Morrison. "I haven't decided yet, but I know whatever I do end up doing, it'll probably be something more specific than general medicine." She couldn't see herself being something like a general care doctor. "Maybe I'll do doctors without borders for a couple of years after school."

Ollie sat sprawled out across his dorm room floor, his laptop in front of him and papers scattered in an organized mess around him. He pulled a pencil that was clenched between his teeth and marked something down on one of the papers stacking that away, whatever work had been necessary on it seemingly done. "I have a question," he said glancing over at Pippa who likely worked much tidier than he did over at his desk. "Was Ogden your first choice of school? Like … if you could go anywhere would you have picked Ogden?" Pippa seemed like she could have probably gone anywhere. Money, grades, connections, those all seemed like they could have gotten her in where ever she wanted to go. Rich people had a lot more interest in carrying on the family legacy though. "It wasn't my first choice… I wouldn't say it was a backup school either, but like…" He shrugged his shoulders. "I wonder if anyone came here because they wanted to, or because we all had to for one reason or another." It made it seemed like a shared cursed fate, which was likely not the case. Maybe Pippa had even picked out to come to Ogden. But sometimes it felt like it.

Pippa always seemed to be studying these days. Even if she was only a sophomore, school work still piled up and since she was here for school, she thought that she needed to focus on her education above everything else. The bullshit on campus couldn't stop her from being top in her class. Pippa would not settle for anything other than the best. She was focused on her schoolwork when Ollie spoke and tilted her head to the side. Greer had come to Ogden, as did several other members of her family. Pippa hated that she was copying her cousin, but she had genuinely wanted to go to Ogden. She tilted her head in response to the question before answering, as if contemplating it when she knew the answer was yes. "It was in my top choices. It's a legacy school for my family." Not just the Morrison name but her dad had come here too. "It's a good school, I think and I liked that it was close to home." Now that seemed to be a curse rather than anything else. "How come it wasn't your first choice? That brain of yours too big for a school like this?" Pippa teased though she did believe that Ollie was smart enough to have gone to any school. She put her pen down in her book and looked up, curious to see the response. "I've always liked it here."

"Yeah, right." Pippa didn't really think that doing something passionate about was really that overrated. She wanted to do something she actually liked and wanted to do. Being a doctor was appealing for the research aspect of it, but years and years of school was not what she wanted. Pippa wanted to do something artistic, work in a museum or something. Still, she couldn't. "I think I disagree about that. Maybe you don't have to be passionate about something to enjoy doing it, but you do have to at least like and want to go into it as a career. Being in a dead in job for the rest of your life would suck for anyone. "I don't want to. I'm already spread thin enough and if I try something new, it just looks desperate. I don't know what to do anymore." Her cousin was missing and now there was a dead student. Pippa was not ready to deal with all of this for another semester. "Hiking doesn't seem like the sort of thing that would let me stop thinking about everything. Cooking might actually be okay though."

Pippa had always been hard on herself when it came to her schooling. She didn't want to give her parents any reason to get angry at her. She wasn't one of those people that could get away with slacking off. Her parents might be able to afford to send her to school without having to worry about money, but Pippa had always wanted to make damn sure she was an asset and not just wasting her parents money. "It isn't like my family name will get me into a good medical school. That's my grades and how hard I work now." The name could only get her so far. Being a doctor wasn't the same as being a lawyer or running a business. "I will always worry about school because I actually want to graduate and do well." Pippa shrugged at the comment. "Yeah, well. Not everyone is suited to be a doctor for a reason." Pippa didn't really know how to handle being complimented on her chosen career path.

“If you run away to Europe now, everyone will just say you’re copying Greer.” Another Morrison on the lam. He didn’t even want to think about what a shitstorm of conspiracies that’d start around campus. The FBI would never leave. Monty shook his head a little, more to himself than Pippa, as he glanced down at his drink, fiddling with the straw for a moment. “I didn’t know you’d taken a gap year. Between high school and college, right?” he guessed, glancing her way again. “What’d you do with the year off? Internships or something?”

"Do I look like the type of person that would find that kind of life acceptable?" Pippa knew her parents would never allow that to happen. They were the type that would say she was taking time to figure out what she wanted before ever admitting that Pippa was a failure. She couldn't be a failure. "I think if that happened, I might as well change my name and pretend I'm not related to the Morrisons." That sounded appealing. Pippa loved her dad. Sometimes living up to the family name was more stressful than she wanted. At times, she felt like the weight of the world was on her shoulders. Sometimes she wished her parents had a second child, just to share the burden. Just another thing that she could be jealous that Greer had and she didn't. She did not want to think about this.

"Right because everything that I do has to be compared to Greer. Nothing I do will ever be original because Greer did it first." Pippa frowned, trying not to roll her eyes. Everyone compared her to Greer. "Everyone compares me to her." She wished they wouldn't. "Yeah, between high school and college. It's why I'm not a junior. I didn't have an internship. I worked with a charity in Europe. It was nice. There's photos of it on my insta, but I think you have to school back kind of far to see it. I enjoyed it even if it was a lot of work."

Pippa nodded feeling the same way that Leaky did. It was difficult not to feel overwhelmed these days when she literally saw the murdered student not that long before she was killed. They'd been snowed in too. Someone there had to know something. She wondered if there were people that Pippa talked to that had information like she did. Were they all keeping things secret from each other? Greer being gone was one thing, but this was something else. She couldn't keep up her mask much longer if this continued. "Yeah, probably. I don't think it's fair my parents would have to shell out thousands of dollars for me to talk to someone when my cousin is missing and a student is dead." She sighed. "I can't be okay. I went to California to avoid my parents, so that's how my break was. What about yours?"

Pippa knew that being upset about her cousin's disappearance was probably in her best interest. It wasn't a lie to say that she was not doing well. People looked to her as if she was privy to more information than they were. But Pippa was just as lost as everyone else. It would look bad if she didn't care. She found it easy to pretend. Not because she got along with Greer but because of the hole she left when she disappeared and how people acted around Pippa because of it. She didn’t need people to check up on her. “It’s fine.” Only family would understand what she was going through. Pippa hardly thought complaining or talking to someone outside of that circle would help her in any way. “Thanks for the offer.” A distraction however, was much needed. Pippa looked down at her book. “It’s my anatomy textbook,” she said with a frown. Not her favorite subject by far. “Yeah, but I like school. I want to do well. Which means putting in extra work before the semester starts.” Also Pippa liked knowing the answers when professors called on her. “I have to get into a good medical school.”